Erica Demarest

Recent Articles

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. — A 12-year-old girl has died after a snowbank collapsed on top of her outside an Arlington Heights church Sunday, police said. First responders were called to Rothem Church, 106 E. College Dr., about 2:40 p.m. Sunday, according to the Arlington Heights Police Department. Two girls, ages 9 and 12, were playing in a snowbank when a fort they had built collapsed on top of them, officials said. The girls’ families were attending a church service when […]

CHICAGO — Former Chicago police Officer Jason Van Dyke has been sentenced to six years and nine months in prison for the 2014 murder of Laquan McDonald. Van Dyke, 40, will likely serve slightly more than three years. His sentence is based on his second-degree murder conviction, which only requires 50 percent of a sentence to be served. He will receive credit for time served awaiting sentencing. A Cook County jury in October found Van Dyke guilty of second-degree murder […]

CHICAGO — A Cook County judge has sentenced the convicted gunman in the Hadiya Pendleton murder to 84 years in prison. Micheail Ward, now 24, spoke in his own defense Monday at a sentencing hearing at the Leighton Criminal Court Building, 2650 S. California Ave. He maintained his innocence in a rambling speech, occasionally cursing. Ward said there was “no video, no nothing” to link him to the shooting. “I am upset that I’m the one who’s going down for […]

NORTHBROOK, Ill. — An Illinois state trooper was killed Saturday while responding to a three-car crash on I-294 in Northbrook, police said. Trooper Christopher Lambert was on his way home at about 4:45 p.m. Saturday when he responded to a crash on the left shoulder of I-294 NB near Willow Road, according to Illinois State Police Director Leo Schmitz. Lambert was out of his car when a vehicle on the highway failed to stop — hitting Lambert and throwing him […]

CHICAGO — A South Side woman has been charged with DUI in the downtown crash that killed a child Friday. Police said Adreannia Donaldson, 29, was driving westbound on Lower Wacker Drive about 1 a.m. Friday when she made an illegal U-turn into oncoming traffic near Garvey Court. Donaldson struck a car in the eastbound lanes of Lower Wacker Drive, police said, causing a girl in Donaldson’s car to be thrown from the vehicle. The girl, who was two weeks shy […]

CHICAGO — Two Chicago police officers were fatally struck by a train Monday while investigating a call of shots fired on the city’s South Side. The officers were identified as Conrad Gary, 31, who was on the force for a year and a half, and Eduardo Marmolejo, 36, who’d been on the force for two and a half years. The officers from the 5th District were struck by a passing NICTD-Indiana South Shore train at 103rd Street and Cottage Grove […]

CHICAGO — The FDA is warning people to avoid using glitter to decorate cakes and other food items — unless the products are specifically manufactured to be edible. The federal agency released a YouTube video to help folks discern which glitter is good, and which is bad. Companies that produce edible glitter are required by law to list ingredients on the label. Ingredients can include sugar, acacia, cornstarch and color additives. According to the FDA, decorative glitters and dusts are […]

CHICAGO — Four people were killed, including a doctor, a first-year pharmacy resident and a Chicago police officer, after an active shooter incident at a South Side hospital Monday. Chicago police responded to the scene at Mercy Hospital and Medical Center at 2525 S. Michigan Ave. for reports of shots fired just before 3:30 p.m. Monday. The incident started with gunfire in the parking lot before moving into the hospital. The gunman was killed, but it was unclear whether he […]

OAK FOREST, Ill. — Police are looking for a man who carjacked two vehicles at gunpoint, hit a construction worker and ran over a suburban police officer. It all started about noon Thursday with an armed carjacking in Orland Park, according to the Oak Forest and Orland Park police departments. That attack happened in a restaurant parking lot in the 7800 block of 159th Street. A man and woman were exiting a 2016 Dodge Charger when the carjacker walked up, […]

RICHTON PARK, Ill. — A car with two infants in the back seat was stolen in Richton Park on Friday, police said. The boys were found safe in an alley in Riverdale two hours later; they were strapped into their car seats. Police said there was no indication they’d been hurt. Temperatures in the Richton Park area hovered around the high 30s and low 40s Friday afternoon. It was not clear how long the boys had been outside. The car […]